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Chartered Company
See also Honourable Households in the United Commonwealth. A Chartered Company a type of company in the United Commonwealth. Chartered Companies are holding companies incorporated under the terms of letters patent issued by the monarch. The Chartered Companies are the wealthiest and most powerful entities in the Commonwealth outside of the Crown and the Commonwealth Communion. They are conventionally family-operated affairs and are highly interconnected with Orders of Kin. They possess a level of wealth and influence that they can have an direct effect on the national interest. History The origin of the Chartered Company system, and the interlinked system of Orders of Kin, goes back to the initial period of the colonisation of Victoriæ. It is rooted both in the doctrine of the Commonwealth Communion and the clan-based social order of United Commonwealth society. During the early period of colonisation, all assets in the nation where held by the Crown Estate and the monarchy, which ran a command driven economy. Eager to kickstart private enterprise again, the Crown Estate would provide investment and subsidy to individuals of promise in-return for deliverable goods rather than for a Crown Estate stake in their operations. Many of the extant, and most powerful, Chartered Companies had thier inception during this period as former section chiefs from the HMSS Endeavour were tasked with managing operations on the New World within their area of specialty. Crown Estate assets would be relinquished to them under the conditions of a letters patent, which stipulated output requirements and other conditions. Ownership and operation of these companies became family affairs where successive generations from the inception hold the most powerful positions in the private enterprises. Additionally, Commonwealth Communion scholars identified the concentration of wealth in the hands of private individuals, and the userpation of the national interest by private interest, as a primary determining factor of the Dark Enlightenment and the Sundering of the First Commonwealth-governments became beholden to private corporations whom held significant power. It was recognised as inevitable that such powerful private enterprises would occur again, and seen as un-Anglic to prevent them too. The solutions created were that of the Chartered Companies and the associated Orders of Kin. Creation Chartered Companies can only be created through letters patent iisued by the monarch, which outline the terms of incorporation, and render additional benefits and committments. As the body responsible for collecting taxes, the Office of the Lord Steward maintains strict financial records on everyone in the United Commonwealth. When the holdings of a particular Household, conventionally defined as everyone with a relationship co-efficient of 25%, are deemed to be of national significance, the Lord Steward recommends the monarch issue letters patent enforcing the creation of a Chartered Company. The letters patent cannot be refused by the parties involved though the terms are open for negotiation between them and the Lord Steward. During negotiations, the business assets of the parties are valued and ownership transferred, where the Chartered Company is the new parent company to a collection of business interests. Stock in the new company is proportionally divided between the parties, with the largest holder taking the position of Director-General and other stockholders as Directors. Structure Chartered Companies are conventionally small and built around the 'Court of Directors, '''on which all stockholders are entitled to sit. Employees directly employed by the Chartered Company outside of the Court are typically accountants and lawyers. Though the law states that it is the combined assets of the Household, most Chartered Companies are formed around only a single, or couple, of individuals whom hold the initial stock. Over successive generations, stock is gradually transferred or willed between descendants. Typical Chartered Companies, particularly those of those with diverse portfolios and interests, are comprised of a dozen or cousins that oversee particular areas or cadet businesses owned by the Chartered Company. Stock in the company cannot be sold, only transferred voluntarily, and co-efficiency of relationship requirements are almost always invoked within the letters patent of the company. Relationship to Orders of the Household ''See Orders of Kin. Chartered Companies are indelibly linked with Orders of Kin. When a Chartered Company is created, a corresponding Order of Kin is created for the Household who's assets are being incorporated. At creation, the primary stockholder in the Chartered Company is also made the Master of the Order. The Master of the Order is able to issue to honours to members of their household, which are typically done so alongside positions of prominence and Directors of the Chartered Company. Category:United Commonwealth Category:Law Category:Businesses Category:Aristocracy